This invention relates generally to devices for holding irregular shaped workpieces. More particularly, the present invention relates to vises which may be employed or adapted for irregular workpieces.
Irregular shaped workpieces have long presented problems when it is desired to clamp or hold such objects for work, repair or maintenance tasks. Conventional vises are often incapable of holding irregular shaped workpieces without either damaging the workpiece or unduly compromising the clamping integrity of the jaws. While some vises are constructed or modified by employing additional fixtures for specific irregular shaped workpieces, such modified vises are frequently not capable for effective use with a large spectrum of irregular shaped workpieces.
A number of devices and techniques have been proposed for adapting conventional vises and clamps for use with irregular shaped objects. Nagy U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,063 discloses a vise attachment which employs blade elements. The blade elements are relatively movable within a housing. Balls are mounted behind the elements for distributing various pressures exerted on the blades. Koufos U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,537 discloses a clamping device which employs various layers of balls including various spring biased balls for retaining irregularly shaped objects to a clamp. Philips U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,352 discloses a vise jaw faceplate which employs a magnetic insert for retaining the faceplate to the vise jaws.
Other patents which disclose devises to which the invention relates are set forth by Patentee and the U.S. Patent Number below:
______________________________________ Patentee U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ N. Barowsky 2,658,415 C. R. Peterson 2,754,708 W. Spanhel et al 2,815,051 P. W. Weiser 3,318,594 Robert Gault 3,604,700 Pasbrig 3,858,468 Thyberg et al 4,047,709 Pasch 4,252,305 ______________________________________